"Accomplice?"

Looking at Shen Bingmiao before him, Lin Yu asked somewhat puzzled.

He didn't understand why his senior was emphasizing this point again right now.

"Is this related to what I asked?"

Lin Yu looked at Shen Bingmiao and asked seriously.

"Of course it is," Shen Bingmiao lowered her gaze and said earnestly, "I told you I was once a Player... Do you know when and why I joined the Game?"

Lin Yu was taken aback for a moment: "You haven't mentioned that before..."

"It was seven years ago," Shen Bingmiao said seriously, "Seven years ago, I joined this Game."

Lin Yu froze: "But the earliest Players in this Game can only be traced back to..."

"Yes, three years ago, but that's this version," Shen Bingmiao said seriously, "As for me... I'm a Player from the last version."

"Every seven years, all Players experience a 'final dungeon' targeting the entire Player base, during which a transformation and upheaval spanning the Ten Realms occurs," Shen Bingmiao explained, "It's been three years since the last 'final dungeon' appeared... and there are still four years until the next 'ultimate' appears."

"I joined this Game when there were four years left until the 'final dungeon' in the last version, which was seven years ago. That was also when I met your sister."

Hearing Shen Bingmiao's words, Lin Yu was very surprised: "My... sister?"

"Yes, Lin Zhao, your sister. She entered the Death Game after dying ten years ago," Shen Bingmiao revealed another fact that shocked Lin Yu, "She was already a very experienced Player by then... We went through various things together... Anyway, in the end..."

A trace of regret flashed across Shen Bingmiao's face: "She still died, perishing in that 'final dungeon'—of course, I didn't survive either."

"We died together three years ago."

At this point, Lin Yu suddenly understood what felt off about his memory.

"So... the reason my memory feels wrong is because I was actually living with my sister until five years ago, but because my sister died again, my memory was modified by the Death Game, right?"

Shen Bingmiao nodded: "You could say that, but it wasn't just the Death Game... there was also yourself."

"Myself?"

Lin Yu asked in astonishment.

"Could it be that I... this isn't my first time joining this Game?"

As Lin Yu asked, Shen Bingmiao shook her head.

"No, but you once knew about the existence of the Death Game as a 'non-Player'."

Shen Bingmiao said softly: "After your sister passed away three years ago, I revived from the Game in the life form of a 'cyber ghost'—this was originally supposed to be Lin Zhao's contingency plan, but it manifested on me instead. So I knew Lin Zhao had saved me—she had researched a contingency plan to survive even after failing in the 'ultimate dungeon,' but she used that method on me."

"After learning this, I wanted to revive Lin Zhao no matter what. So, I took out the trophy I obtained from the 'ultimate dungeon' and, following the guidance of the Fate Fragments... I found you."

"You from three years ago."

Shen Bingmiao said softly.

Lin Yu rubbed his temples: "We met three years ago too?"

"Yes, initially I just wanted to start with Lin Zhao's closest blood relative and try some secret arts from the Ten Realms... But perhaps because of the Fate Fragments and the special timing," Shen Bingmiao said in a low voice, "after you saw me, you actually broke through the cognitive interference as a 'non-Player' and deduced the existence of the Death Game, reasoning that your memories about 'sister' felt wrong."

"Then, a Heart Domain actually emerged from you—I recognized it, it was Lin Zhao's last remaining Heart Domain. She seemed to have anticipated all this, so she placed her final remaining Heart Domain on you, temporarily isolating the interference of the Death Game."

"Within the Heart Domain, I told you everything about Lin Zhao and this Game."

"And in the final dozen or so minutes before the Heart Domain dissipated, you quickly conceived two nearly unbelievable but actually potentially feasible plans using the Fate Fragments."

"One of them was to use a certain Class ability that could 'turn falsehood into truth' to deceive yourself, and through your own continuous strengthening and continuously enhancing this ability, achieve 'revival from death'!"

Listening to Shen Bingmiao's words, Lin Yu felt this didn't sound like himself at all.

Not only deducing the existence of the Death Game as an ordinary person, but even using just a dozen or so minutes to fully comprehend the Death Game and attempt to use this Game to begin reviving Lin Zhao?

Most importantly...

"How could I have predicted that such an ability truly existed? How could I have foreseen that I would awaken this Class in the future?"

"Because your sister's Class could achieve similar effects," Shen Bingmiao said, resting her chin on her hand, "As for why you were so certain, I'm not clear either. Probably the bond between you siblings?"

Lin Yu felt a headache coming on.

"In your description, I sound like a genius, senior..."

Shen Bingmiao said seriously: "You've always been my genius, otherwise why would I call you ace?"

"But I'm not," Lin Yu sighed, "The me you described from five years ago—I not only have no impression of it, but I feel the planning and scheming I did back then far exceeded my capabilities..." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

If he really was a genius three years ago, then he shouldn't have just been ranked middle-upper in the experimental high school, and the university he ended up attending would definitely have been among the nation's top-tier.

The only explanation was that the version of himself who spoke with Shen Bingmiao three years ago had exhausted all his potential and wisdom in those dozen or so minutes, racking his brains to conceive this nearly unbelievable plan.

"But regardless, this plan should have failed, right?"

Lin Yu sighed.

Now he had already realized the fact that his sister was dead.

"It failed from the very beginning," Shen Bingmiao said with a sigh, "And precisely because of that, I didn't stop Twenty... Just as he said, what was in the room was just an illusion, a monster with Fate Fragments at its core that merely appeared to have a soul. It wasn't the real Lin Zhao, couldn't even be called human."

"Letting it develop further would only create an unknown life form with Lin Zhao's appearance."

As Shen Bingmiao spoke, Lin Yu sighed.

"So that's how it is..."

"But senior, you're still completely unflustered right now, so it seems my second plan is reliable enough too?"

"Of course, my dear ace," Shen Bingmiao blinked, "You already said it back then..."

"The first plan succeeding would be best, because it's relatively simpler."

"But if it doesn't work out, that's fine too... because the second plan is guaranteed to succeed."